YOU ASKED, BIMWIZARD® DELIVERS ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY!

BIMWIZARD® UPDATES

YOU ASKED, BIMWIZARD® DELIVERS ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY!

Now available for ArchiCAD® as well as Revit®, USG Boral’s innovative BIM add-in for selecting and designing wall and ceiling solutions has undergone major enhancement. Senior Engineering Support Officer Greg Suther explains.

Since launching BIMWIZARD® in 2016, we’ve added new functionality from time to time. Late 2018 we made several major improvements – some by specific request, others because we thought they’d make life easier for the architectural design and building community.

At the same time BIMWIZARD, initially released for Autodesk® Revit®, now has a version compatible with Graphisoft® ArchiCAD® – which we believe pretty much covers the Australian market. The current version of BIMWIZARD lets you interchange files between Revit and ArchiCAD, so you can now:

·       Share them with other professionals and co-workers using different BIM platforms

·       Use them on different platforms at home and at the office

·       Access files in ArchiCAD’s standalone desktop application

So what else is new in BIMWIZARD?

OWN YOUR ORGANISATION

Many users have asked for the ability to customise the naming of files, so we’ve built this capability within BIMWIZARD. You can now specify your preferred formats – including prefix, suffix and dynamic fields such as fire rating – and then import and export these naming conventions across different projects.

Another important improvement to the organisation of files within BIMWIZARD is the creation of a new ‘save point’. In the past, you needed to search for previous files from scratch using a system search. Now you can save every system you create within a project, and have it available to use in future projects.

This also helps you collaborate more easily with other professionals and project partners, because you can export and archive ‘proven’ systems for specific requirements – then share them down the track. For example, you design a multi-party wall with particular factors of choice (fire and acoustic ratings, stud arrangements and so on). You can now save this system for the project in one location, then use it as a template for a different project.

SMARTER SEARCH

A major new time-saver is the addition of segment-based filters that allow you to search for wall and ceiling systems by building class. You just enter Class 6 (for retail) or Class 9 (for large public buildings) and BIMWIZARD will provide you with a list of suggestions.

You might be looking for lining options for intertenancy walls in an apartment block, corridors in a school or a fire exit in a multiplex cinema. Each of the systems suitable for use in the specific class of building will be listed for selection – and rated according to the most economical versus the highest performance.

Narrowing down the search for compliant systems by building type saves time by eliminating irrelevant information. It also makes it safer for you to delegate tasks to your staff, as BIMWIZARD can ensure they are working within the right parameters for each project.

Other new search filters also stand to save you time when looking for specific USG Boral systems and products – and will be especially useful when USG Boral has created a customised SAVE (Specification and Value Engineering) Architectural Specification for your project. You can now search by our wall and ceiling system numbers – and even search for solutions by specific lining products. For example, you can specify ‘Firestop® only’, or any products from our range ‘excluding FIBEROCK®’, and BIMWIZARD will then display relevant systems.    

CLOSER COLLABORATION

As mentioned above, it’s now easier to collaborate with people or firms using different platforms since BIMWIZARD is now available for both Revit and ArchiCAD. Other new aids to collaboration include the ability to create a folder tree as well as file naming conventions – and then import or export it to share with your contractors, new employees or project partners.

This ability to share can also help increase your compliance – with client requirements, your own inhouse processes and standards, and even legislative or industry requirements for record holding and data retrieval.

Finally, we’ve also added a tool so you can collaborate with us! A new feedback tab gives you the opportunity to be involved in continuous innovation and improvement. Please use it to tell us what you find cool about BIMWIZARD, what frustrates you and to input ideas for ways we can make your day-to-day life as a design professional even easier.    

You can register to use BIMWIZARD and USG Boral’s other online design tools at no cost via our website.

Greg Suther is a US-born and qualified Civil Engineer specialising in CAD, BIM and 3D visualisation/modelling. As Senior Engineering Support Officer at USG Boral in Melbourne, he was responsible for the creation of BIMWIZARD® and now leads its ongoing development.    

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